Foreign aid is an admirable concept. It typifies the philanthropic British instinct to give those less well-off a helping hand. But it should also reflect domestic financial realities and ring-fencing it to inflate to 0.7 per cent of gross national income was not realistic. The Prime Minister has got this policy wrong. However, as we reveal today, his misjudgment on foreign aid has gone further than a stubborn clinging to an extravagant target. It emerges that the supposedly independent IF charity campaign, pressurising the Government to maintain the 0.7 per cent aid commitment, was acting in complicity with David Cameron and his advisers in promoting a policy opposed by many Tory backbenchers.

As a consequence the Prime Minister was photographed with celebrities, while the Chancellor received fulsome praise from charity organisations for continuing to ring-fence aid. There was a further quid pro quo. The charity War on Want claims it was told it could participate in the IF campaign only if it refrained from criticising government policy. It refused. This exposes an appalling state of affairs in the higher reaches of the Government, with Mr Cameron and his associates manipulating the foreign aid budget, the Department for International Development (DfID) and their own public images. It is reminiscent of the cabal mentality of Tony Blair’s “sofa government”.

Foreign aid is an important and meritorious function of Government. But it should be affordable, efficiently targeted and transparent. It should not be used as a PR exercise for senior politicians. Such cynical manipulation is dishonest and distasteful. The world’s starving should not be exploited for political advantage nor should taxpayers’ cash be doled out to charities on the basis of their cosiness with the Government. The foreign aid ring fence should be ended and affordable assistance be given to deserving recipients with total transparency.